The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1887-02-09

uont VI lutcs Outc, inutcu'
Hilda was on the point of confessing every
thing that she had done and suffered. and
TO make passionate appeal 10 him for re-
lief from the suspicious that were making
her so miserable, but a certain absence of
sympathy in his look and bearing deferred
her; and shortly after dinner she made an
excuse of feeling indisposed, and quilted
him for the night, without his making any
opposition to her departure other than a
mild expression of surprise that she should
retire so soon.
One more in the solitude of her own
apartments, she busted herself anew with
the yexatious task of piecing together the
fragments of the mysterious letter, but
with little better success than before; and
she at last sought her couch, outwearied,
disconsolate, and very wretched.
After night of br ken slumber and dis
tressing dreams, however, she awoke in the
first gray of dawn, and possessed with a
sudden conviction that she would now have
no difficulty in reconstructingt the letterto her
satisfaction. Her internal promptings did
not deceive her. She had hardly set her
self afresh TO the task, after a speedy and
feyerish toilet, than the formerly refractory
fragments seemed TO grow into shapeful-
ness and intelligibility under her manipu-
lation, as if by magic.
At length their arrangement was COM
plete; the entire letter, neatly pieced to-
gether upon the cardboard, lay before her
without lapse or break; and then, in the
light of the new day, her greedy gaze de-
voured its purport as follows:
"ST. JOINS WOOD. LONDON,
January -, Is.
ARCHIBALD MoNTEITH-At last, as
your lawyer informs me, you have got your
wish! Influence, powerful friends, and
money have' aided you; and the law that
makes you n free man, with the option of
marrying again, makes me, your wife.
despised degraded woman, an outcast and
alone
But do not fatter yourself that you will
be rid of me, Archy Menteith
"Whithersoever you may 60, will fol-
low you, and haunt you, and disturb your
peace.
Should you ever marry again, will
SOW your path and hers with dragons
teeth.
you may seek new scenes and a new
identity; you may even change your name,
in accordance with the conditions by which
you can inherit the rich Canadian estates
under your grand uncle's will, and be
known hereafter as Archibald Delorme,
in lieu of Archibald Montieth; you may be
a fugitive TO the ends of the earth, but
will pursue and hunt you still, with the
hate, the resentment, the despair, which
you have earned eternally from
"EsTELLE."
Hildas cheek blanched, and she sank
fainting on a couch near at hand, dropping
the fatal letter and newspaper with a stifed
cry. These two witnesses corroborated
one another, and the shock overpowered
her for an instant.
Recovering herself with mighty effort
of will, she realized that the terrible mys-
terry was explained. She had married di-
vorced mana man who had another wife
still livinge She felt creeping sense of
horror and humiliation. The law might
have given this man the rightto marry her,
but heaven could never have done So
Death alone could sever the sacred mar
riage tie. She had always held 10 this
principle by the most solemn conviction. as
her parents had done before her. Taking
advantage of the obscurity afforded his
antecedents by his change of name, Archi-
bald Delerme "a divorced man,
still married man in the eyes
of God, as she firmly believed, 49,
had practiced deliberate and cowardly
deception in leading her TO the altar.
Could she ever forgive? No, no; fury and
indignation were taking the place OF hui
initiation and shame in her bosom.
While she was prey to these violent
emotions, and striving to deliberate, a step
sounded on the corridor just outside her
door.
Thinking il might be her husbands, she
sprang to the door and opened it, with the
intention of wildly confronting him with
the womanly feelings he had outraged.
But the step proved to be that of the
aged housekeeper, on her way down stairs
to begin the duties of the new day.
Mrs. Saunders, cried Hilda, suddenly
Selling her arm, you have been long in
the service of this old mansion; tell me
what was my husbands name before he as
sumed that of the former proprietor here?"
"Bless you maam, and have you been
ignorant of it all this time?" exclaimed the
old woman, not a little alarmed by her
young mistress excited manner. "He was
Mr.. Archibald Montieth until my old mas
ter's death some five years ago, when he
took the same name of Delorme, in order
to inherit the property"
Hilda regained her self control by q
great effort.
IL was, strangely enough, not aware of it
before" said she. CAS- soon as you see Mr..
Delorme this morning, Mrs. Saunders, pray
tell him not to quit the house without see
ing me.
She re-entered her boudoir, closing the
door behind her. But she had no sooner
crossed the floor to the open window than
she uttered another half-stihed cry.
There, in the fresh morning light, far
away upon the edge of the cliffs, she saw
the same woman walking that she had OBJ
served on the evening before, and her hus-
band was walking at her side.
"Oh, this is too much will confront
both together" exclaimed Hilda, wildly,
putting on her hat and shawl. at is un-
doubtedly that woman-Estelle! / will
know whether he belongs to her or mel"
She rushed out of the room, out of the
house, and made her way directly toward
the two figures through the timber belt that
lay between the house grounds and the
cliffs. But upon getting out of the wood
she perceived that they occupied precip-
tous headland, known as Indian Head,
which she could only reach by first descend
ing through gap in the cliffs to the waters
edge, and then making her way along the
narrow shore to n flight of rude stone steps
that led up alongside OF the headland.
The way was toilsome and difficult one,
and not unattended with danger should the
tide be coming on, but she hesitated not
moment in pursuing it, and kept her
jealous gaze fastened upon the couple on
Indian Head till she dipped down below the
cliffs. which shut them from her view.